A weekend break in… Krakow

Follow the author of this article

A guide to short breaks in Krakow, including the best things to see and do, plus recommended bars and restaurants.

Why go now?

With new flights, moving history and modern buzz, Krakow is not just about stag weekends – it makes a sophisticated city break option.For too long Krakow has had a reputation for attracting crowds of soon-to-be-tied-down gentlemen on stag weekends. It deserves better. Poland’s second city and former capital is upstanding and architecturally fine: the showpiece Wawel Castle has undergone major restoration since the country gained independence in 1918, while Rynek Glowny, supposedly Europe’s largest medieval city square, is truly superb. During the Second World War, the Nazis decided they rather liked Krakow, so made it their home in a country whose population they wished to exterminate. While the rest of Poland was bombed, the old city was preserved. Next Tuesday, January 27, also marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp, about an hour from the city. It makes for an uncomfortable but worthwhile visit, for which you should put aside the best part of a day; a lasting reminder of the Nazis’ depravity, the sheer scale of their extermination programme, and the lasting impact of the genocide on Poland’s population. Fortunately, Poland today is a happier place. Go for memories, painful, yet necessary, and for the chance to wander through a city that merits a better history than it has endured.

Go for memories, painful, yet necessary, and for the chance to wander through a city that merits a better history than it has endured.

Getting there

Regent Holidays (020 7666 1244; regent-holidays.co.uk) offers two-night breaks to Krakow staying at the four-star Hotel Amadeus on a b&b basis, including return flights and private airport transfers from £395 per person, based on two sharing. Krakow is served multiple airlines including easyJet (0330 365 5000; easyjet.com) and Ryanair (0871 246 0000; ryanair.com) from airports across Britain. From May 1, British Airways (0844 493 0787; britishairways.com) will serve the city from Heathrow (flights are available to book now). The airport is about 12km from the city centre and is served by buses 208 and 292.

On arrival

5pm

Make for the main square, specifically the north-eastern corner, home to St Mary’s Cathedral (4) at plac Mariacki 5 (48 12 422 05 21; mariacki.com; admission 10 zlotys/£1.75 or half price for over 65s, children and students). Inside, the highlight is the pentaptych altarpiece.

7.30pm

Happily, there is more to Polish cuisine than sausages. Try the wild boar with juniper berries at Pod Aniolami restaurant (6) at Grodzka 35 (48 12 421 39 99; podaniolami.pl), in a 13th-century cellar. Mains from 34.50 zlotys (£6).

Day one

9.30am

Head south to Wawel Hill (7) (48 12 422 5155; wawel.krakow.pl). Seat of Polish kings for over 500 years, the Royal Castle here is a magnificent Renaissance construction. It houses state rooms and private royal apartments - particularly of note are the 30 wooden heads in the Throne Room’s coffered ceiling. Poland’s most treasured work of art, Leonardo da Vinci’s Lady with an Ermine is also on display here. Also on the hill is the 14th-century Wawel Cathedral , with its ice-cream scoop domes.There is a complicated ticketing process for the sights on Wawel Hill. You will need one ticket for the Royal Castle and there is a separate fee for each of its five permanent exhibitions; admission from 7 zlotys (£1.20). You need to purchase another ticket for the Cathedral, which costs 12 zlotys (£2).

Seat of Polish kings for over 500 years, the Royal Castle here is a magnificent Renaissance construction.

2.30pm

Kazimierz is home to the Old Synagogue (9) at Szeroka 24 (48 12 422 09 62; mhk.pl; admission 9 zlotys/£1.60), a striking example of the buildings that survived the war.

3.30pm

Cross the Vistula to Oskar Schindler’s factory (10) at 4 Lipowa Street (48 12 257 10 17; mhk.pl; admission 19 zlotys/£2.80). It is not easy to find, but follow the street signs and you will find it past the MOCAK contemporary art gallery. This museum may be unsettling - as well as the industrialist’s story, it also goes into harrowing detail about life in Nazi-occupied Krakow - but you will come away with a better sense of Poland’s situation in the Second World War.

With new flights, moving history and modern buzz, Krakow is not just about stag weekends.

6pm

Warm up at Krakowska Manufaktura Czekolady (11), a chocolate shop and café at ul. Szewska 7 (48 502 090 765; chocolate.krakow.pl). The array of cakes and hot drinks is extraordinary – and you can decide if the Putin chocolate figurines are tasteful or not. Cakes from 25 zlotys (£4).

8pm

The restaurants around the main square may have a good view, but the food is not always reliable. Walk 10 minutes south to Pod Baranem restaurant (12) at ul. sw. Gertrudy 21 (48 12 429 40 22; podbaranem.com), where the service is slick. Mains from 25 zlotys (£4).

Day two

10am

The Nazis renamed the small town of Oświęcim, 44 miles west of Krakow, as Auschwitz in their Germanisation programme of Poland. Here they established a series of concentration camps, where at least 1.3 million people were deported. Today, visitors can see the original brick barracks at the Auschwitz I camp, and the bleak, terrible expanse of Birkenau. Displays include mounds of shoes belonging to the prisoners and 40kg of glasses, collected as plunder. Independent visitors must reserve tickets in advance through an online booking portal (visit.auschwitz.org) to guarantee access. You may find it easier to book a tour: this can be done through an operator such as Regent Holidays, who offer a coach excursion from Krakow for £37pp, run by CracowTours (48 12 430 07 26; cracowtours.pl).

Here they established a series of concentration camps, where at least 1.3 million people were deported.

Checklist

1. The main tourist office is on the main square at Rynek Glowny 1-3, in the Cloth Hall (48 124337310; krakow.pl).

2. Watch your step: streets are shared by cars, trams and buses, and jay walking is an offence.

3. Krakow is mainly a walkable city, but a single tram ticket costs 3.80 PLN (67p).